The new German radar satellite TerraSAR-X is ready for transport. EADS Astrium engineers have now loaded the spacecraft into its container. Later this month, it will be flown to the launch site in Baikonur (Kazachstan) aboard the largest standard transportation aircraft in the world, an Antonov 124.

Following this, the teams of EADS Astrium and the German Aerospace Center will need to conduct four to six weeks of further preparations before the satellite's launch, which is planned for late March / early April.